Nintendo Wii U

Having been officially unveiled last year, and showcased once again during E3 2012, the German arm of online retailer Amazon has suggested Japanese gaming giant Nintendo will launch the eagerly awaited Nintendo Wii U on December 21st.

Previously tipped for a November 18th arrival, the as yet unconfirmed Nintendo Wii U release date has once again been called into question with Amazon.de listing the device with December 21st launch giving those looking to snap up the next-generation console ahead of the Christmas period just days to do so.

Although far from confirmed, Amazon's latest premature outing of Wii U sees the online retail behemoth offering German customers the chance to snap up the console ahead of a December 21st Nintendo Wii U release date. Again attempting to out unconfirmed Wii U details, the Amazon.de listing has placed the Xbox 360 and PS3 rival with a 399.99 Euro price tag, £323.

Despite this premium price point, the retailer has revealed that Nintendo "has not yet provided retail price" whilst suggesting that "the price may drop even more".

Casting a shadow of doubt over the latest Nintendo Wii U release day leaks, Amazon.co.uk last week started taking pre-orders for the upcoming console with a £199 price point and a July release briefly handed to the Wii follow-on before being hastily removed and an apology emailed to those fast to snap up the device calling the listing an "error."

"Wii U will launch some time between E3 - which is in June - at the end of the year so essentially the second half of the year,” Nintendo’s US head Reggie Fils-Aime said recently.

Like the Wii before it, the Nintendo Wii U is as much about the controller as it is the console. Boasting an inbuilt 6.2-inch touchscreen the controller can be used either to display HUD info, for mini-games using the motion control (spinning it round you to aim in shooting games, for example), or simply to mirror what’s happening onscreen in real time.

Around that is a compliment of full, modern controls: a pair of thumbsticks, four action buttons and four rear triggers (two L and two R).

Away from the controller and the next-gen console is to up its gaming ante with the overdue introduction of 1080p HD gaming and internal flash memory that’s upgradable via SD or USB. With downloadable content to be made available through an online store the Wii U is to be backwards compatible with both Wii games and controllers.

What do you make of the upcoming Nintendo Wii U? Is it the next big thing on the gaming scene or a pre-destined flop? Let us know what you think via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.